ESPM 50AC Final Paper

Coal became the fuel that fired the furnaces of the nation, transforming the Appalachian region socially and economically. Unfortunately mountain people didn't realize the implications of their mineral wealth. Many sold their land and mineral rights for pennies an acre to outlanders. Appalachians became laborers rather than entrepreneurs. Coal became a major industry which was extremely sensitive to outside fluctuations in the economy, leading to boom and bust cycles. The industry was controlled by interests outside the region, so that little of the profit remained or was reinvested.

The people of Appalachia are often characterized as ignorant, lazy, uneducated, drug addicted, and incestuous. Many believe that this impoverished area is full of hicks, hillbillies, and rednecks, but when examining the truths one might find an enriched culture with generous people who are hardworking, artistic, and family oriented with a strong religious faith.

This paper will review past practices and policies relating to mountaintop coal mining, evaluate and analyze current research on the impact of coal mining on human health, and provide recommendations for further research guided by logic and in agreement with biblical truth.

Although the Appalachian Region is tied together by the culture the small communities within sparate the region. The region is separated in urban, rural, and mountain areas. Those who live in the urban areas have more opportunities as they are closer to conneting roads. Urban areas also offer more in ways of education and employment. Rural areas prove to be a challenge as connecting roads are few, education is lacking, and jobs are less.

The citizens in Central Appalachia are amongst the poorest in the country even thought they live in an area that is environmentally diverse and full of natural resources such as coal, timber and agriculture. The author of the book looks at the coal history of her hometown West Virginia and examines the impact of mining and mountain top removal has had on the region. Appalachia’s poverty rate is twice as high as any other region in United States. The regions are primarily country and the people are largely white with majority of the locals having roots that have been tied to the lands for generations. Burns talks about how one of the biggest issues facing the area and the main reason why all the money being made is not going to the people of the land for all these years is coal.

The region that is considered Appalachia extends from the southern point of New York and extends down to northern Georgia and the northern part of Mississippi. The region includes parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, the western portion of Virginia, and parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. The Appalachian culture is made up of a vast array of migrants who settled in the region and is comprised of both urban and rural developments. Appalachian culture is defined by its people, traditions, regional assets, and the many social issues like poverty and substance abuse that have developed inside the region. Understanding the culture of the Appalachian people is an essential part of social work practice. Failure to develop

The author identified two Appalachian crisis in this article. First, the author mentioned that many people in Appalachia places like eastern Kentucky lost nearly 70% of their coal jobs to mechanization (mountain removal strip mines). Also, the author argued that mountain removal causes the most deaths related to cancer and other diseases in central Appalachia.

if the coal mines start laying people off. When coal has a boom or bust, so does the communities as well (Roenker, 2002). This dependency on coal production has left many communities and parts of the region without a diverse economy, and the economy that is in these towns were depend on coal production and jobs. The more depend on coal a community, county, or region is, the more dependent on social services and government assistance (Roenker, 2002). One of the barriers in the region of Appalachia is the coal dependency. While it does bring great jobs and good economy, the busts are almost too hard for many in Appalachia to handle. Opening up to more job diversities are that more stable would be very beneficial in West

Appalachia has been associated with numerous social problems that has cast a negative light onto the region. When most people think about Appalachia’s socioeconomic stature they immediately assume poor and uneducated, with the lack of economy in the region comes a lack of education and many other negative connotations. Without a sound and sturdy socioeconomic background, the citizens of Appalachia are the ones that suffer. The effects of poverty resonate way beyond the surface of Appalachia’s basic social problems and can be seen throughout the entire region. All of Appalachia’s social problems can be tied back to its economic standing, the lack of education and poor healthcare are two major problems that are commonly associated with the Appalachian region.

Since 1742, West Virginia has provided our nation and the world with the finest coal found anywhere. As of today, West Virginia’s coal miners apply useful and effective mineral removal technology that makes other countries envy their counterparts around the world. West Virginia’s exports more coal than any other state in the country. West Virginia has more longwall mining systems than any other state. This leads the nation in underground coal productions and sets the pace for the rest of the industry in recovery and environment protection. At the same time, West Virginia coal industry displays a sense of responsibility for health, safety and environmental that is incomparable anywhere in the world. Over the years, coal has

Water contamination is the next major concern of environmental groups. The Environmental Protection Agency, the governmental regulatory agency created in 1970 to manage the enforcement of environmental policy, states its concerns in a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2009 (United). Specifically addressing mines in West Virginia and Kentucky, the EPA expressed serious concerns over water pollution from strip mining (“EPA”). The rupture of an ash dike at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, TN on December 22, 2008 granted credibility to the EPA’s concerns. In an article published by in Environmental Health Perspectives, Rhitu Chatterjee comments on the poisonous substances contained in ash produced from processing coal, listing

The Stream Protection Act was one of these 14 disapprovals that was passed in the spring of 2017. In December of 2016, the Federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement issued a regulation requiring coal companies to monitor water quality near mines. Specifically, the rule established a buffer zone rule, blocking mining within 100 feet of streams. In general, the rule put stricter regulations on coal mining companies in efforts to reduce pollution and preserve natural resources (Feller). This rule was in effect for a very short period before the new President and Congress changed it. This rule disapproval was

Geoffrey L. Buckley’s “Extracting Wealth from the Earth and Forest,” featured in North American Odyssey, examines how private and commercial logging and mining “shaped and reshaped North America’s physical environment during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.” (139) Specifically, the author narrows his focus to observing the role of the federal government in sanctioning such practices, industrial logging, and commercial mining, all with a particular eye toward Appalachia (140).

I learned that mines were abandoned and in this case we have the responsible helping out. In other cases like the Gold King Mine in Colorado that it was used in the early 1900’s, the responsible that abandoned the mines were from Canada and are no were to be found. The problem with these mines is that when they extract all the uranium and there is no need for the mines, these mines need to be abandoned and closed. Unfortunately, there was no cleanup process when the mines were abandoned. Leaving the areas contaminated and the water from the rain transporting the contamination to other areas. 100 years ago, there was no standard on how to properly abandon a mine. Now days, the EPA and the state environmental departments are responsible to enforce the proper abandonment procedures and make sure the closure will not contaminate nearby areas or the water used for drinking, crops, and other human and animal uses. The runoff of the mine contamination can increase the total dissolve solids (TDS) in the nearby waters, making it non usable for human consumption and fish

In his article “Environment Group Aims to Stop Work on Power Plant”, Tom Parsons reports on two unnamed environmental groups who are asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to order that all work on a new power plant cease until further environmental studies have been completed.